A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13 eBook

[Footnote 166: Some remarks concerning the Cape
of Good Hope are now given in the original. They
are omitted here, as being only supplementary to other
accounts, and because we shall elsewhere have an opportunity
of drawing the reader’s attention very fully
to the subject. The same thing may be said respecting
some notices of St Helena, contained in this section.
Whatever is of value in either of these accounts,
will be had recourse to on another occasion.—­E.]

On the morning of the 14th we weighed and stood out
of the bay; and at five in the evening anchored under
Penquin, or Robin Island: We lay here all night,
and as I could not sail in the morning for want of
wind, I sent a boat to the island for a few trifling
articles which we had forgot to take in at the Cape.
But as soon as the boat came near the shore, the Dutch
hailed her, and warned the people not to land, at their
peril, bringing down at the same time six men armed
with muskets, who paraded upon the beach. The
officer who commanded the boat not thinking it worth
while to risk the lives of the people on board for
the sake of a few cabbages, which were all we wanted,
returned to the ship. At first we were at a loss
to account for our repulse, but we afterwards recollected,
that to this island the Dutch at the Cape banish such
criminals as are not thought worthy of death, for a
certain number of years, proportioned to the offence,
and employ them as slaves in digging lime-stone, which,
though scarce upon the continent, is in plenty here;
and that a Danish ship, which by sickness had lost
great part of her crew, and had been refused assistance
at the Cape, came down to this island, and sending
her boat ashore, secured the guard, and took on board
as many of the criminals as she thought proper to navigate
her home: We concluded therefore that the Dutch,
to prevent the rescue of their criminals in time to
come, had given order to their people here to suffer
no boat of any foreign nation to come ashore.

On the 25th, at three o’clock in the afternoon,
we weighed, with a light breeze at S.E., and put to
sea. About an hour afterwards, we lost our master,
Mr Robert Mollineux, a young man of good parts, but
unhappily given up to intemperance, which brought
on disorders that put an end to his life.

We proceeded in our voyage homeward without any remarkable
incident; and in the morning of the 29th we crossed
our first meridian, having circumnavigated the globe
in the direction from east to west, and consequently
lost a day, for which we made an allowance at Batavia.

At day-break on the first of May, we saw the island
of Saint Helena; and at noon we anchored in the road
before James’s fort.

We staid here till the 4th, to refresh, and Mr Banks
improved the time in making the complete circuit of
the island, and visiting the most remarkable places
upon it. At one o’clock in the afternoon
of the 4th of May, we weighed and stood out of the
road, in company with the Portland man-of-war, and
twelve sail of Indiamen.